COFINANCE INC. COMPLETES THE PURCHASE
OF A RETAIL CENTER ON ROUTE 17 NORTH IN
PARAMUS, NEW JERSEY; FIRST REPORTED
RETAIL BUILDING SALE/PURCHASE ON ROUTE
17 & ROUTE 4 IN PARAMUS IN OVER TWO
YEARS
PARAMUS, NEW JERSEY
- JULY 1, 2008
Cofinance Inc., the United States
subsidiary of Cofinance Group, a
French-owned real estate investment
company (Collectively “Cofinance”), has
completed the purchase of 556 Route 17
North (“Property”) located on the
eastern side of Route 17 immediately
proceeding the northern most feeder road
(A&S Drive) to the Paramus Park Mall in
Paramus, New Jersey. More formerly known
as Sprout Brook Shopping Center, the
Property, built in 1986, is a
multi-tenant retail building totaling
21,899 square feet occupied by national
tenants including Vitamin Shoppe,
Verizon and Jenny Craig. Cofinance
purchased the site with the intent of
upgrading the Property’s signage and
releasing the former Harvey Electronics’
store, recently closed due to a
bankruptcy, at market rents.
Morgan Property Management, LLC, an
affiliate of Cofinance Inc., will be
providing property management services
and The Goldstein Group will spearhead
the leasing effort lead by Chuck
Lanyard, its President, and Lew
Finkelstein, its Vice President.
Citizens Bank, through its Philadelphia
Office, provided the financing for the
acquisition. The purchase price was
$11.79 million.
“We are excited to have acquired such a
well-maintained retail center with prime
access and visibility on Route 17 North
& South in one of the premier retail
corridors in New Jersey” stated Jim
Maurer, President of Cofinance Inc.
“Retail properties trade infrequently
along Route 17 and Route 4 with no
recorded trades in over two years.”
Maurer adds, “There are over 140,000
cars a day that pass this center. We
strongly believe that by enhancing the
Property signage combined with a focused
marketing effort we will quickly release
the store formerly occupied by Harvey
Electronics. In fact, we have already
signed a lease with a national retailer
for one-third of the store. The name of
the tenant will be formally announced
shortly.”
Cofinance Inc. has completed
acquisitions during the past 36 months
in New York City, Northern New Jersey
and Sarasota County Florida amounting to
$140 million. Despite the highly
competitive real estate market,
Cofinance Inc. in partnership with
sophisticated capital, has been able to
locate and control unique opportunistic
investments in highly sought after
markets.
Cofinance Inc. is an investor in and
developer of residential, office,
industrial, and retail projects
throughout the United States. Formed in
June of 1983, the strategy of Cofinance
Inc. has evolved into a broadly-based
entrepreneurial real estate investment
approach focused on identifying and
acquiring well-located properties that
are affected by non-real estate factors
and complex situations, define a focused
plan to resolve such factors and
situations, execute the plan and then realize the value.
Jean-Claude Pick, the Chief Executive
Officer and founding principal of
Cofinance Inc., has been involved in
all aspects of real estate development,
investment, and operation throughout the
United States, France, England and
Holland. Mr. Pick is also President and
founder of Cofinance Group SA in
Luxembourg and its French subsidiary
Cofinance SA. The holdings of
Cofinance SA include hotels, office
buildings, shopping centers, retirement
communities, and a full-service property
management company. Since their founding, Cofinance SA and Cofinance Inc. have been involved in projects with an aggregate value of over $2 billion.
Mr. Maurer joined Cofinance Inc. in
June of 2004. During his twenty
five-year career as a real estate
professional, Mr. Maurer has established
a reputation as a highly successful
developer of complex real estate
investments. Mr. Maurer is well-known in
the industry for his innovative
solutions and his development and
implementation of comprehensive business
plans and operating strategies.
The parent company of Cofinance Inc. is
CofiMorgan SA a wholly-owned subsidiary
of Cofinance Group. Cofinance Group is a
Luxembourg company owned by Jean Claude
Pick and a family trust managed by the
Maitland Group (“Maitland”). Maitland
was founded in 1976 as the overseas
advisor of major South African
international institutional investors
and has since developed into a
multi-national company, with offices in
London, Paris, Geneva, Isle of Man, and
Luxembourg. Maitland, through its wholly-owned subsidiaries, manages and advises
on investments well in excess of $1
billion US.
For
additional information please
contact us.
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